The Business of Green

So now it looks like solar and wind technologies will be the cheapest way to make electricity by 2030. That’s the finding of a new Australian Energy Technology Assessment from Australia’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics, prepared by engineering firm Worley Parsons. The report also opens the door for nuclear energy.

The carbon price is a game changer. A carbon price is the most important and transformative changes to the economy since the floating of the dollar and the GST. Despite the Coalition's "blood oath" to scrap it after the next election, everyone expects it will stay in place. The world is watching Australia.

Scientists are now warning a possible return of the El Niño weather pattern in the second half of 2012. That means one thing: more heavy rainfall and more droughts. If what we saw 14 years ago is any guide, it’s going to be disastrous.

Controversy has erupted around around the The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation applying for a licence to store the waste in an 800 square metre interim warehouse at Lucas Heights from 2015. Locals are angry and Australian governments are reluctant to find a proper storage facility. It's an out of sight, out of mind policy.

Business and vested interests are saying that the proposed $23 a tonne carbon price is too high but the economics of it are simple: if the price is too low, it will discourage investment in renewable energy technologies and continue the high emissions creating climate change

Climate change is a health hazard. More Australians face dying in heatwaves and they have a greater risk of catching infectious diseases as a result of climate change. Rising temperatures, more natural disasters and changing rainfall patterns will have to affect people's health as much as the environment.